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NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of statistics and Information

THE

Workmen's Compensation Law

OF

NEW YORK STATE

1913

PRINTED IN ADVANCE FROM THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF LABOR

JAMES M. LYNCH

COMMISSIONER

ALBANY

J. B. LYON COMPANY. PRINTERS

1913

NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of statistics and Information

THE

Workmen's C^ompensation Law

OF

NEW YORK STATE

1913

PRINTED IN ADVANCE FROM THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF LABOR

JAMES M. LYNCH

COMMISSIONER

ALBANY

J. B. LYON COMPANY. PRINTERS

191 3

\b

The Workmen's Compensation Law printed herewith was passed at the
extraordinary session in December after the Department's general compilation
of labor laws was printed. The Compensation Law was signed by the Governor
on December IG. It takes effect for administrative purposes on January 1,
1914, but payment of compensation under it goes into effect on July 1, 1914.

This Compensation Law repeals Article 14-a of the Labor Law which was
the compensation act of 1910 afterwards held unconstitutional by the Court of
Appeals (see p. 110* of the general compilation of labor laws).

[238]

Workmen's Compensatton L^w. * 239

THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAW.

Chapter 816 of the Laws of 1913, Constituting Chapter Sixty-Seven

OF THE Consolidated Laws.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAW.

Article 1. Short title, application, definitions (§§ 1-3).
2. Compensation t§§ 10-34).
:>. Security for compensation (§§ 50-54).

4. State workmen's compensation commission (§§ 60—76).

5. State insurance fund (§§ 00-105).

6. Miscellaneous provisions (§§ 110-119).

7. Laws repealed; when to take effect (§§ 130-131).

ARTICLE 1.
Sliort Title; Application; Definitions.

Section 1. Short title.

2. Application.

3. Definitions.

§ 1. Short title. — This chapter shall be known as the "Workmen's Compen-
sation Law."'

§ 2. Application. — Compensation provided for in this chapter shall be payable
for injuries sustained or death incurred by employees engaged in the following
hazardous employments:

Group 1. The operation, including construction and repair, of railways
operated by steam, electric or other motive power, street railways, and incline
railways, but not their construction when constructed by any person other
than the company which owns or operates the railway, including work of
express, sleeping, parlor and dining car employees on railway trains.

Group 2. Construction and operation of raihvajs not included in group one.

Group 3. The operation, including construction and repair, of car shops,
machine shops, steam and power plants, and other works for the purposes of
any such railway, or used or to be used in connection with it when operated,
constructed or repaired by the company which owns or operates the railway.

Group 4. The operation, including construction and repair, of car shops,
machine shops, steam and power plants, not included in group three.

Group 5. The operation, including construction and repair, of telephone
lines and wires for the purposes of the business of a telephone company, or
used or to be used in connection with its business, when constructed or
operated by the company.

Group 6. The operation, including construction and repair, of telegraph lines
and wires for the purposes of the business of a telegrapii company, or used or
to be used in connection with its business, when constructed or operated by
the company.

Group 7. Construction of telegrapii and telephone lines not included in
groups five and six.

*^f\l^4 Cki^

240 * Eepobt of ttie Commiss.ioxer of Labor, 1913.

Group S. The operation, within or without the state, including repair, of
vessels other than vessels of other states or countries used in interstate or
foreign commerce, when operated or repaired hy the company.

Group 9. Shipbuilding, including construction and repair in a ship-yard or
elsewhere, not included in group eight.

Group 10. Longshore work, including the loading or unloading of cargoes
or parts of cargoes of grain, coal, ore, freight, general merchandise, lumber or
other products or materials, or moving or handling the same on any dock,
platform or place, or in any warehouse or other place of storage.

Group 11. Dredging, subaqueous or caisson construction, and pile driving.

Group 12. Construction, installation or operation of electric light and elec-
tric power lines, dynamos, or appliances, and power transmission lines.

Group 1.3. Paving; sewer and subway construction, work under compressed
air, excavation, tunneling and shaft sinking, well digging, laying and repair
of underground pipes, cable and wires, not included in other groups.

Group 14. Lumbering; logging, river-driving, rafting, booming, saw mills,
shingle mills, lath mills; manufacture of veneer and of excelsior; manufacture
of staves, spokes, or headings.

Group 15. Pulp and paper mills.

Group 16. Manufacture of furniture, interior woodwork, organs, pianos,
piano actions, canoes, small boats, coffins, wicker and rattan ware; upholster-
ing; manufacture of mattresses or bed springs.

Group 17. Planing mills, sash and door factories, manufacture of wooden
and corrugated paper boxes, cheese boxes, mouldings, window and door screens,
■window shades, carpet sweepers, wooden toys, articles and wares or baskets.

Group 18. Mining; reduction of ores and smelting; preparation of metals
or minerals.

Group 19. Quarries; sand, shale, clay or gravel pits, lime kilns; manu-
facture of brick, tile, terra-cotta, fire-proofing, or paving blocks, manufacture
of calcium carbide, cement, asphalt or paving material.

Group 20. Manufacture of glass, glass products, glassware, porcelain or
pottery.

Group 21. Iron, steel or metal foundries; rolling mills; manufacture of
castings, forgings, heavy engines, locomotives, machinery, safes, anchors, cables,
rails, shafting, wires, tubing, pipes, sheet metal, boilers, furnaces, stoves,
structural steel, iron or metal.

Group 22. Operation and repair of stationary engines and boilers, not
included in other groups.

Group 23. Manufacture of small castings or forgings, metal wares, instru-
ments, utensils and articles, hardware, nails, wire goods, screens, bolts, metal
beds, sanitary, Avater, gas or electric fixtures, light machines, typewriters, cash
registers, adding machines, carriage mountings, bicycles, metal toys, tools,
cutlery, instruments, photogr^iphic cameras and supplies, sheet metal products,
buttons.

Group 24. Manufacture of agricultural implements, threshing machines,
traction engines, wagons, carriages, sleighs, vehicles, automobiles, motor trucks,
toy wagons, sleighs or baby carriages.

Group 25. Manufacture of explosives and dangerous chemicals, corrosive
acids or salts, ammonia, gasoline, petroleum, petroleum products, celluloid,
gas, charcoal, artificial ice, gun powder or ammunition.

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 241

Group 26. Manufacture of paint, color, varnish, oil, japans, turpentine,
printing ink, printers' rollers, tar, tarred, pitched or asphalted paper.

Group 27. Distilleries, breweries; manufacture of spirituous or malt liquors,
alcohol, wine, mineral water or soda waters.

Group 28. Manufacture of drugs and chemicals, not specified in group
twenty-five, medicines, dyes, extracts, pharmaceutical or toilet preparations,
soaps, candles, perfumes, non-corrosive acids or chemical preparations, fer-
tilizers, including garbage disposal plants; shoe blacking or polish.

Group 29. Milling; manufacture of cereals or cattle foods, warehousing;
storage ; operation of grain elevators.

Group 30. Packing bouses, abattoirs, manufacture or preparation of meats
or meat products or glue.

Group 31. Tanneries.

Group 32. Manufacture of leather goods and products, belting, saddlery,
harness, trunks, valises, boots, shoes, gloves, umbrellas, rubber goods, rubber
shoes, tubing, tires or hose.

Group 33. Canning or preparation of fruit, vegetables, fish or food stuflfs;
pickle factories and sugar refineries.

Group 34. Bakeries, including manufacture of crackers and biscuits, manu-
facture of confectionery, spices or condiments.

Group 35. Manufacture of tobacco, cigars, cigarettes or tobacco products.

Group 36. Manufacture of cordage, ropes, fibre, brooms or brushes; manilla
or hemp products.

Group 37. Flax mills; manufacture of textiles or fabrics, spinning, weaving
and knitting manufactories; manufacture of yarn, thread, hosiery, cloth,
blankets, carpets, canvas, bags, shoddy or felt.

Group 38. Manufacture of men's or women's clothing, white wear, shirts,
collars, corsets, hats, caps, furs or robes.

Group 39. Power laundries; dyeing, cleaning or bleaching.

Group 40. Printing, photo-engraving, stereotyping, electrotyping, lithograph-
ing, embossing; manufacture of stationery, paper, cardboard boxes, bags, or
wall-paper; and book -binding.

Group 41. The operation, otherwise than on tracks, on streets, highways, or
elsewhere of cars, trucks, wagons or other vehicles, and rollers and engines,
propelled by steam, gas, gasoline, electric, mechanical or other power or
drawn by horses or mules.

Group 42. Stone cutting or dressing; marble works; manufacture of arti-
ficial stone; steel building and bridge construction; installation of elevators,
fire escapes, boilers, engines or heavy machinery; brick-laying, tile-laying,
mason work, stone-setting, concrete v/ork, plastering; and manufacture of
concrete blocks; structural carpentry; painting, decorating or renovating;
sheet metal work; roofing; construction, repair and demolition of buildings and
bridges; plumbing, sanitary or heating engineering; installation and covering
of pipes or boilers.

§ 3. Definitions. — As used in this chapter, 1. " Plazardous employment"
means a work or occupation described in section two of this chapter.

2. " Commission " means the state workmen's comjiensation commission, as
constituted by this chapter.

3. " Employer," except when otherwise expressly stated, means a person,
partnership, association, corporation, and the legal representatives of a

242 * Eepoet of the Commissionee of Labok, 1913.

deceased employer, or the receiver or trustee of a person, partnership, asso-
ciation or cori)oration, employing workmen in hazardous employments; but
does not include the state or a municipal corporation or other political sub-
division thereof.

4. " limployee " means a person w ho is engaged in a hazardous employment
in the service of an employer carrying on or conducting the same upon the
premises or at the plant, or in the course of his employment away from the
plant of his employer; and shall not include farm laborers or domestic
servants.

5. " Employment " includes employment only in a trade, business or occupa-
tion carried on by the employer for pecuniary gain.

6. " Compensation " means the money allowance payable to an employee or
to his dependents as provided for in this chapter, and includes funeral benefits
provided therein.

7. "Injury" and "personal injury" mean only accidental injuries arising
out of and in the course of employment and such disease or infection as may
naturally and unavoidably result therefrom.

8. " Death " wlien mentioned as a basis for the right to compensation means
only death resulting from such injury.

9. "Wages" means the money rate at which the service rendered is recom-
pensed under the contract of hiring in force at the time of the accident,
including the reasonable value of board, rent, housing, lodging or similar
advantage received from the employer.

10. "State fund" means the state insurance fund provided for in article
five of this chapter.

11. "Child" shall include a posthumous child and a child legally adopted
prior to the injury of the employee.

12. "Insurance carrier" shall include the state fund, stock corporations or
mutual associations with which employers have insured, and employers per-
mitted to pay compensation directly under the provisions of subdivision three
of section fifty.

ARTICLE 2.
Compensation.

Section 10. Liability for compensation.

11. Alternative remedy.

12. Compensation not allowed for first two weeks.
1?.. Treatment and care of injured emplojees.

14. Weekly wages basis of compensation,

15. Schedule in case of disability.

16. Death benefits.

17. Aliens.

IS. Notice of injury.

19. Medical examination.

20. Determination of claims for compensation.

21. Presumptions.

22. Modification of award.

23. Appeals from tlie commission.

24. Costs and foes.

23. Compensation, how payable.

26. Enforcement of payment in default.

27. Depositing future payments.

28. Limitation of riglit to compensation.

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 243

Section 29, Subrogation to remedies of employee.

30. Revenues or benefits from other sources not to affect compensation.

31. Agreement for contribution by employee void.

32. Waiver agreements void.

33. .\ssignments ; exemptions.

34. Preferences.

§ 10. Liability for compensation. — Every employer subject to the provisions
of this chapter shall pay or provide as required by this chapter compensation
according to the schedules of this article for the disability or death of his
employee resulting from an accidental personal injury sustained by the
employee arising out of and in the course of his employment, without regard
to fault as a cause of such injury, except where the injury is occasioned by
the Avillful intention of the injured employee to bring about the injury or
death of himself or of another, or where the injury results solely from the
intoxication of the injured employee while on duty. Where the injury is
occasioned by the willful intention of the injured employee to bring about the
injury or death of himself or of another, or where the injury results solely
from the intoxication of the injured employee while on duty, neitlier the
injured employee nor any dependent of such employee shall receive compensa-
tion under this chapter.

§ 11. Alternative remedy. — The liability prescribed by the last preceding
section shall be exclusive, except that if an employer fail to secure the paj^-
ment of compensation for his injured employees and their dependents as
provided in section fifty of this chapter, an injured employee, or his legal
representative in case death results from the injury, may, at his option, elect
to claim compensation under this chapter, or to maintain an action in the
courts for damages on account of such injury; and in such an action the
defendant may not plead as a defense that the injury was caused by the
negligence of a fellow servant or that the employee assumed the risk of his
employment, or that the injury was due to the contributory negligence of the
employee.

§ 12. Compensation not allowed for first two weeks. — No compensation
shall be allowed for the first fourteen days of disability, except the benefits
provided for in section thirteen of this chapter.

§ 13. Treatment and care of injured employees. — The employer shall
promptly provide for an injured employee such medical, surgical or other
attendance or treatment, nurse and hospital service, medicines, crutches and
apparatus as may be required or be requested by the employee, during sixty
days after the injury. If the employer fail to provide the same, the injured
employee may do so at the expense of the employer. The employee shall not
be entitled to recover any amount expended by him for such treatment or
services unless he shall have requested the employer to furnish the same and
the employer shall have refused or neglected to do so. All fees and other
charges for such treatment and services shall be subject to regulation by the
commission as provided in section twenty -four of this chapter, and shall bo
limited to such charges as prevail in the same community for similar treatmonrf;
of injured persons of a like standard of living.

§ 14. Weekly wages basis of compensation. — Except as otherwise provided
in this chapter, the average weekly wages of the injured employee at the time

244* Report of the Commissioner of Lvbor, 1913.

of tho injury shall be taken as tlie basis tipon which to compute compensation
or death benefits, and shall be determined as follows:

1. If the injured employee shall have worked in the employment in which he
was working at the time of the accident, whether for the same employer or
not, during substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding his
injury, his average annual earnings shall consist of three hundred times the
average daily wage or salary which he shall have earned in such employment
during the days when so employed ;

2. If the injured employee shall not have worked in such employment during
substantially the whole of such year, his average annual earnings shall consist
of three hundred times the average daily wage or salary which an employee of
the same class working substantially the whole of such immediately preceding
year in the same or in a similar employment in the same or a neighboring place
shall have earned in such employment during the days when so employed;

3. If either of the foregoing methods of arriving at the annual average earn-
ings of an injured employee cannot reasonably and fairly be applied, such
annual earnings shall be such sum as, having regard to the previous earnings
of the injured employee and of other employees of the same or most similar
class, working in the same or most similar employment in the same or neighbor-
ing locality, shall reasonably represent the annual earning capacity of the
injured employee in the employment in which he was working at the time of
the accident;

4. The average weekly wages of an employee shall be one-fifty-second part of
bis average annual earnings ;

5. If it be established that the injured employee was a minor when injured,
and that under normal conditions his wages w^ould be expected to increase, the
fact may be considered in arriving at his average weekly wages.

% 15. Schedule in case of disability. — The following schedule of compensa-
tion is hereby established:

1. Total permanent disability. In case of total disability adjudged to be
permanent sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the average weekly wages
shall be paid to the employee during the continuance of such total disability.
Loss of both hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both legs, or both eyes, or
of any two thereof shall, in the absence of conclusive proof to the contrary,
constitute permanent total disability. In all other cases permanent total dis-
ability shall be determined in accordance with the facts.

2. Temporary total disability. In case of temporary total disability, sixty-
six and two-thirds per centum of the average weekly wages shall be paid to
the employee during the continuance thereof, but not in excess of three thou-
sand five hundred dollars, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

3. Permanent partial disability. In case of disability partial in character
but permanent in quality the compensation shall be sixty-six and two-thirds
per centum of the average weekly wages and shall bo paid to the employee for
the period named in the schedule as follows:

Thumb. For the loss of a thumb, sixty weeks.

First finger. For the loss of a first finger, commonly called index finger,
forty-six weeks.

Second finger. For the loss of a second finger, thirty weeks.
Third finger. For the loss of a third finger, tw^enty-five weeks.

Woiikmen's Compensation Law. * 245

Fourth finger. For the loss of a fourth finger, commonly called the little
finger, fifteen weeks.

Phalange of thumb or finger. The loss of the first phalange of the thumb
or finger shall be considered to be equal to the loss of one-half of such thumb
or finger, and compensation shall be one-half of the amount above specified.
The loss of more than one phalange shall be considered as the loss of the
entire thumb or finger; provided, however, that in no case shall the amount
received for more than one finger exceed the amount provided in this schedule
for the loss of a hand.

Great toe. For the loss of a great toe, thirty-eight weeks.

Other toes. For the loss of one of the toes other than the great toe, sixteen
weeks.

Phalange of toe. The loss of the first phalange of any toe shall be con-
sidered to be equal to the loss of one-half of said toe, and the compensation
shall be one-half of the amount specified. The loss of more than one phalange
shall be considered as the loss of the entire toe.

Hand. The loss of a hand, two hundred and forty-four weeks.

Arm. For the loss of an arm, three hundred and twelve weeks.

Foot. For the loss of a foot, two hundred and five weeks.

Leg. For the loss of a leg, two hundred and eighty-eight weeks.

Eye. For the loss of an eye, one hundred and twenty-eight weeks.

Loss of use. Permanent loss of the use of a hand, arm, foot, leg or eye
shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of such hand, arm, foot, leg
or eye.

Amputations. Amputation between the elbow and the wrist shall be con-
sidered as the equivalent of the loss of a hand. Amputation between the knee
and the ankle shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of a foot.
Amputation at or above the elbow shall be considered as the loss of an arm.
Amputation at or above the knee shall be considered as the loss of the leg.

The compensation for the foregoing specific injuries shall be in lieu of all
other compensation, except the benefits provided in section thirteen of this
chapter.

Other cases. In all other cases in this class of disability, the compensation
shall be sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the difference between his
average weekly wages and his v\'age-earning capacity thereafter in the same
employment or otherwise, payable during the continuance of such partial
disability, but subject to reconsideration of the degree of such impairment
by the commission on its own motion or upon application of any party in
interest.

4. Temporary partial disability. In case of temporary partial disability,
except the particular cases mentioned in subdivision three of this section, an
injured employee shall receive sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the
difference between his average weekly wages and his wage earning capacity
thereafter in the same employment or otherwise during the continuance of
such partial disability, but not in excess of three thousand five hundred
dollars, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

5. Limitation. The compensation payment under subdivisions onc^wo and
four and under subdivision three except in case of tlie loss of a hand, arm,
foot, leg or eye, shall not exceed fifteen dollars per week nor be less than

246 * Report of tjie Commissioner of Labor, 1913.

five dollars per week; the compensation payment under subdivision three in
case of the loss of a hand, arm, foot, leg or eye, shall not exceed twenty
dollars per week nor be less than five dollars a week; provided, however, that
if tlie employee's wages at the time of injury are less than five dollars per
week he shall receive bis full weekly wages.

6. Previous disability. The fact that an employee has suflfered previous
disability or received compensation therefor shall not preclude him from
compensation for a later injury nor preclude compensation for death resulting
therefrom; but in determining compensation for the later injury or death
his average weekly wages shall be such sum as will reasonably represent his
earning capacity at the time of the later injury.

§ IG. Death benefits. — If the injury causes death, the compensation shall
be known as a death benefit and shall be payable in the amount and to or
for the benefit of the persons following:

1. Reasonable funeral expenses, not exceeding one hundred dollars;

2. If there be a surviving wife (or dependent husband) and no child of the
deceased under the age of eighteen years, to such wife (or dependent hus-
band) thirty per centum of the average wages of the deceased during widow-
hood (or dependent widowerhood) with two years' compensation in one
sum, upon remarriage; and if there be surviving child or children of the
deceased under the age of eighteen years, the additional amount of ten per
centum of such wages for each such child until of the age of eighteen years,
provided that the total amount payable shall in no case exceed sixty-six and
two-thirds per centum of such wages.

3. If there be surviving child or children of the deceased under the age
of eighteen years, but no surviving wife (or dependent husband) then for
the support of each such child until of the age of eighteen years, fifteen per
centum of the wages of the deceased, provided that the aggregate shall in no
case exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of such wages.

4. If the amount payable to surviving wife (or dependent husband) and to
children under the age of eighteen years shall be less in the aggregate than
sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the average wages of the deceased,
then for the support of grandchildren or brothers and sisters under the age
of eighteen years, if dependent upon the deceased at the time of the accident,
fifteen per centum of such wages for the support of each such person until of
the age of eighteen years; and for the support of each parent, or grand-
parent, of the deceased if dependent upon him at the time of the accident,
fifteen per centum of such wages during such dependency. But in no case
shall the aggregate amount payal)le under this subdivision exceed the diff"er-
ence between sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of such wages, and the
amount payable as hereinbefore provided to surviving wife (or dependent
husband) or for the support of surviving child or children.

Any excess of wages over one hundred dollars a month shall not be taken
into account in computing compensation under this section. All questions
of dependency shall be determined as of the time of the accident.

§ 17. Aliens. — Compensation under this chapter to aliens not residents
(or about to become nonresidents) of the United States or Canada, shall be
the same in amount as provided for residents, except that the commission may,
at its option, or, upon the application of the insurance carrier, shall, com-

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 247

mute all future installments of compensation to be paid to such aliens, by
paying or causing to be paid to them one-half of the commuted amount of
such future installments of compensation as determined by the cominission.

§ 18. Notice of injury. — Notice of an injury for which compensation is
payable under this chapter shall be given to the commission and to the
employer within ten days after disability, and also in case of the death of
the employee resulting from such injury, within thirty days after such death.
Such notice may be given by any person claiming to be entitled to compen-
sation, or by some one in his behalf. The notice shall be in writing, and
contain the name and address of the employee, and state in ordinary language
the time, place, nature and cause of the injury, and be signed by him or by
a person on his behalf or, in case of death, by any one or more of his depend-
ents, or by a person on their behalf. It shall be given to the commission
by sending it by mail, by registered letter, addressed to the commission at
its office. It shall be given to the employer by delivering it to him or sending
it by mail, by registered letter, addressed to the employer at his or its last
known place of residence; provided that, if the employer be a partnership
then such notice may be so given to any one of the partners, and if the
employer be a corporation, then such notice may be given to any agent or
officer thereof ujjon whom legal process may be served, or any agent in charge
of the business in the place where the injury occurred. The failure to give
such notice, unless excused by the commission either on the ground that
notice for some sufficient reason could not have been given, or on the ground
that the state fund, insurance company, or employer, as the case may be, Jias
not been prejudiced thereby, shall be a bar to any claim tinder this chapter.

§ 19. Medical examination. — An employee injured claiming or entitled to
compensation under this chapter shall, if requested by the commission, sub-
mit himself for medical exfimination at a time, and from time to time, at a
place reasonably convenient for the employee, and as may be provided by the
rules of the commission. If the employee or the insurance carrier requej^t
he shall be entitled to have a physician or physicians of his own selection to
be paid by him present to participate in such examination. If an employee
refuse to submit himself to examination, his right to prosecute any proceeding
under this chapter shall be suspended, and no compensation shall be payable,
for the period of such refusal,

§ 20. Determination of claims for compensation.— At any time after the
expiration of the first fourteen days of disability on the part of an injured
employee, or at any time after his death, a claim for compensation may be
presented to the commission. The commission shall have full power and
authority to determine all questions in relation to the payment of claims for
compensation under the provisions of this chapter. The commission shall
make or cause to be made such investigation as it deems necessary, and upon
application of either party, shall order a hearing, and within thirty days
after a claim for compensation is submitted under this section, or such
hearing closed, shall make or deny an award, determining such claim for
compensation, and file the same in the office of the commission, together with
a statement of its conclusions of fact and rulings of law. The commission
may, before making an award, require the claimant to appear before an arbi-
tration committee appointed by it and consisting of one representative of
emplojees, one representative of employers, and either a member of the

248 * Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1913.

commission or a person specially deputized by tlie commission to act as
chairman, before which the evidence in regard to the claim shall be adduced
and by which it shall be considered and reported upon. Immediately after
such filing the commission shall send to the parties a copy of the decision.
Upon a hearing pursuant to this section either party may present evidence
and be represented by counsel. The decision of the comniission sliall be final
as to all questions of fact, and, except as provided in section twenty-three,
as to all questions of law.

§ 21. Presumptions. — Tn any proceeding for the enforcement of a claim
for compensation under this chapter, it shall be presumed in the absence of
substantial evidence to the contrary

1. That the claim comes within the provisions of this chapter;

2, That sufficient notice thereof was given;

■ 3. That the injury was not occasioned by the willful intention of the
injured employee to bring about the injury or death of himself or of another;

4. That the injury did not result solely from the intoxication of the injured
employee while on duty.

§ 22. Modification of award. — • Upon its own motion or upon the application
of any party in interest, on the ground of a change in conditions, the com-
mission may at any time review any award, and, on such review, may make
an award ending, diminishing or increasing the compensation previously
awarded, subject to the maximum or minimum provided in this chapter, and
shall state its conclusions of fact and rulings of law, and shall immediately
send to the parties a copy of the award. No such review shall affect such-
award as regards any moneys already paid.

§ 23. Appeals from the conimission. — An award or decision of the com-
mission shall be final and conclusive upon all questions within its jurisdic-
•tion, as against the state fund or between the parties, unless within thirty
days after a copy of such award or decision has been sent to the parties, an
appeal be taken to the appellate division of the supreme court of the third
department. The commission may also, in its discretion, where the claim
for compensation was not made against the state fund, on the application of
either party, certify to such appellate division of the supreme court, questions
of law involved in its decision. Such appeals and the questions so certified
shall be heard in a summary manner and shall have precedence over all other
civil cases in such court. The commission shall be deemed a party to every
such appeal, and the attorney-general, without extra compensation, shall repre-
sent the commission thereon. An appeal may also be taken to the court of
appeals in all eases where such an appeal would lie from a decision of an
appellate division, in the same manner and snbject to the same limitations
as is now provided in civil actions, Otherwise such appeals shall be subject
to the law and practice applicable to appeals in civil actions. Upon the
final determination of such an appeal, thd commission shall make an award
or decision in accordance therewith.

§ 24. Costs and fees. — If the commission or the court before which any
proceedings for compensation or concerning an award of compensation have
been brought, under this chapter, determines that such proceedings have not
been so brought upon reasonable ground, it shall assess the whole cost of the
proceeding upon the i)arty who has so brought them. Claims for legal
services in connection with any claim arising under this chapter, and claims

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 249

for services or treatment rendered or supplies furnished pursuant to section
thirteen of this chapter, shall not be enforceable unless approved by the
commission. If so approved, such claim or claims shall become a lien upon
the compensation awarded, but shall be paid therefrom only in the manner
fixed by the commission,

g 25. Compensalion, how payable. — Compensation under the provisions of
this chapter shall be payable periodically, in accordance with tlie method of
payment of the wages of the employee at tlie time of liis injury or death, and
shall be so provided for in any award; but tlie commission may determine
that all payments or payments as to any particular group may be made
monthly or at any other period, as it may deem advisable. The commission,
whenever it shall so deem advisable, may commute such periodical payments
to one or more lump sum payments, provided the same shall be in the interest
of justice. If the award requires payment of compensation otherwise than
from the state fund all payments as required by the award shall be made
directly to the commission or to a deputy specially authorized to receive
the same, and disbursed in accordance with its award to the persons entitled
thereto. And employers and insurance companies shall for such purpose
be permitted, or when necessary to protect the interest of the beneficiary may
be required, to make deposit^ to secure the prompt and convenient payment of
such compensation.

§ 26. Enforcement of payment in default.— If payment of compensation, or
an installment thereof, due under the terms of an award, be not made within
ten days after the same is due. By the employer or insurance corporation
liable therefor, the amount of such payment shall constitute a liquidated
claim for damages against such employer or insurance corporation, which
with an added penalty of fifty per centum may be recovered in an action to
be instituted by the commission in the name of the people of the state. If
such default be made in the payment of an installment of compensation and
the whole amount of such compensation be not due, the commission may, if
the present value of such compensation be computable, declare the whole
amount thereof duo, and recover the amount thereof with the added penalty
of fifty per centum, as provided by this section. Any such action may be
compromised by the commission or may be prosecuted to final judgment as,
in the discretion of the commission, may best serve the interests of the
persons entitled to receive the compensation or the benefits. Compensation
recovered under this section shall be disbursed by the commission to the
persons entitled thereto in accordance with the award. A penalty recovered
pursuant to this section shall be paid into the state treasury, and be
applicable to the expenses of the commission.

§ 27. Depositing future payments. — If an award under this chapter requires
payment of compensation by an employer or an insurance corporation in peri-
odical payments, and the nature of the injury makes it possible to compute
the present value of all future payments with due regard for life contin-
gencies, the commission may, in its discretion, at any time, compute and
permit or require to be paid into the state fund an amount equal to the
present value of all unpaid compensation for which liability exists, in trust;
and thereu])on such employer or insurance corporation siiall be discharged
from any further liability under such award and payment of the same shall
be assumed by the state fund.

250 * Eepokt of the Commissioxek of Labok, 1913.

§ 28. Limitation of right to compensation. — The right to claim compensa-
tion under this chapter shall be forever barred unless within one year after
tlie injury, or if deatli result therefrom, within one year after such death,
a claim for compensation tlierciindcr shall be filed with the commission.

§ 21). Subrogation to remedies of employee. — If a workman entitled to
compensation under this chapter be injured or killed by the negligence or
wrong of another not in the same employ, such injured workman, or in case
of dcatl). liis dependents, sliall, before any suit or claim under this chapter,
elect whether to take compensation under this chapter or to pursue his
remedy against such other. Such election shall be evidenced in such manner
as the commission may by rule or regulation prescribe. If he elect to take
compensation under this chapter, the cause of action against such other shall
be assigned to the state for the benefit of the state insurance fund, if com-
pensation be payable therefrom, and otherwise to the person or association
or corporation liable for the payment of such compensation, and if he elect
to proceed against such other, the state insurance fund, person or association
or corporation, as the case may be, shall contribute only the deficiency, if
any, between the amount of the recovery against such other person actually
collected, and the compensation provided or estimated by this chapter for such
case. Such a cause of action assigned to the state may be prosecuted or
compromised by the commission. A compromise of any such cause of action
by the workman or his dependents at an amount less than the compensation
provided for by this chapter shall be made only with the written approval
of the commission, if the deficiency of compensation would be payable from
the state insurance fund, and otherwise with the written approval of the
person, association or corporation liable to pay the same.

§ 30. Revenues or benefits from other sources not to affect compensation. —
JS'o benefits, savings or insurance of the injured employee, independent of the
provisions of this chapter, shall be considered in determining the compensation
or benefits to be paid under this chapter.

§ 31. Agreement for contribution by employee void. — Xo agreement by an
employee to pay any portion of the premium paid by his employer to the state
insurance fund or to contribute to a benefit fund or department maintained by
such employer or to the cost of mutual insurance or other insurance, main-
tained for or carried for the purpose of providing compensation as herein
required, shall be valid, and any employer who makes a deduction for such
purpose from the wages or salary of any employee entitled to the benefits of
this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 32. Waiver agreements void. — No agreement by an employee to waive his
right to compensation under tliis chapter shall bo valid.

§ 33. Assignments; exemptions. — Claims for compensation or benefits due
under this chapter shall not be assigned, released or commuted except as pro-
vided by this chapter, and shall be exempt from all claims of creditors and
from levy, execution and attachment or other remedy for recovery or collec-
tion of a debt, which exemption may not be waived. Compensation and bene-
fits shall be paid only to employees or their dependents.

§ 34. Preferences. — The right of compensation granted by this chapter shall
have the same preference or lien without limit of amount against the assets
of the employer as is now or hereafter may be alloAved by law for a claim for
unpaid wages for labor.

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 251

ARTICLE 3.
Security for Comitensatiou.

Sectioa 50. Security for payment of compensation.

51. Posting of notice rega«-cling compensation.

52. Effect of failure to secure compensation.

53. Release from all liability.

54. Tt»e insurance lontract.

§ 50. Security for payment of compensation. — An employer shall secure
compensation to his employees in one of the following ways :

1. By insuring and keeping insured the payment of such »x)mpensation in
the state fund, or

2. By insuring and keeping insured the payment of sueli compensation with
any stock corporation or mutual association authorized to transact the busi-
ness of workmen's compensation insurance in this state. If insurance he so
effected in such a corporation or mutual association the employer shall forth-
with file with the commission, in form prescribed by it, a notice specifying the
name of such insurance corporation or mutual association together with a copy
of the contract or policy of insurance.

3. By furnishing satisfactory proof to the commission of his financial ability
to pay such compensation for himself, in which case the commission may, in
its discretion, require the deposit with the commission of securities of the kind
prescribed in section thirteen of the insurance law, in an amount to be deter-
mined by the commission, to secure his liability to pay the compensation pro-
vided in this chapter.

If an employer fail to comply with this section, he shall be liable to a
penalty for every day during which such failure continues of one dollar for
every employee, to be recovered in an action brought by the commission.

The commission may, in its discretion, for good cause shown, remit any
such penalty, provided the employer in default secure compensation as pro-
vided in this section.

§ 51. Posting of notice regarding compensation. — Every employer who has
complied with section fifty of tliis cliapter shall post and maintain in a con-
spicuous place or places in and about his place or places of business type-
written or printed notices in form prescribed by the commission, stating the
fact that he has complied with all the rules and regulations of the commission
and that he has secured the payment of compensation to his employees and
their dependents in accordance with the provisions of tliis cliapter.

§ 52. Effect of failure to secure compensation. — Failure to secure the pay-
ment of compensation shall have the effect of enabling the injured employee or
his dependents to maintain an action for damages in the courts, as prescribed
by section eleven of tliis chapter.

§ 53. Release from all liability. — An employer securing the payment of com-
pensation by contributing premiums to the state fund shall thereby become
relieved from all liability for personal injuries or death sustained by his em-
ployees, and the persons entitled to compensation under this chapter shall have
recourse therefor only to the state fund and not to the employer. An em-
IJloyer shall not otherwise be relieved from the liability for comi>ensation
prescribed by this chapter except by the payment thereof by himself or his
insurance carrier.

252 * Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1913.

§ 54. The insurance contract. — 1. Eight of recourse to the insurance carrier.
Every policy of insurance covering thu liability of the employer for compensa-
tion issued by a stock company or by a mutual association authorized to
transact workmen's compensation insurance in this state shall contain a pro-
vision setting forth the right of the commission to enforce in the name of the
people of the state of New York for the benefit of the person entitled to the
compensation insured by the policy either by filing a separate application or
by making the insurance carrier a party to the original application, the
liability of the insurance carrier in whole or in part for the payment of such
compensation; provided, however, that payment in whole or in part of such
compensation by either tlie employer or the insurance carrier sliall to the
extent thereof be a bar to the recovery against the other of the amount so
paid.

2. Knowledge and jurisdiction of the employer extended to cover the insur-
ance carrier. Every such policy shall contain a provision that, as between
the employee and the insurance carrier, the notice to or knowledge of the
occurrence of the injury on the part of the employer shall be deemed notice
or knowledge, as the case may be, on the part of the insurance carrier; that
jurisdiction of the employer shall, for the purpose of this chapter, be juris-
diction of the insurance carrier and that the insurance carrier shall in all
things be bound by and subject to the orders, findings, decisions or awards
rendered against the employer for the payment of compensation under the
provisions of this chapter.

3. Insolvency of employer does not release the insurance carrier. Every
such policy shall contain a provision to the efiect that the insolvency or bank-
ruptcy of the employer shall not relieve the insurance carrier from the pay-
ment of compensation for injuries or death sustained by an employee during
the life of such policy.

4. Limitation of indemnity agreements. Every contract or agreement of an
employer the purpose of which is to indemnify him from loss or damage on
account of the injury of an employee by accidental means, or on account of the
negligence of such employer or his officer, agent or servant, shall be abso-
lutely void unless it shall also cover liability for the payment of the com-
pensation provided for by this chapter.

5. Cancellation of insurance contracts. No contract of insurance issued by a
stock company or mutual association against liability arising under this chapter
shall be cancelled within the time limited in such contract for its expiration
until at least ten days after notice of intention to cancel such contract, on a
date specified in such notice, shall be filed in the office of the commission and
also served on the employer. Such notice shall be served on the employer by
delivering it to him or by sending it by mail, by registered letter, addressed
to the employer at his or its last known place of residence; provided that, if
the employer be a partnership, then such notice may be so given to any one
of the partners, and if the employer be a corporation, then the notice may be
given to any agent or officer of the corporation upon whom legal process may
be served.

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 253

ARTICLE 4.

State "^V^orkmen's Compensation Commission,

Section 60. State workmen's compensation commission.

61. Secretary, deputies and other employees.

62. Salaries and expenses.

63. Office.

64. Sessions of commission.

65. Powers of individual commissioners and deputy commissioners.

66. Powers and duties of secretary.

67. Rules.

68. Technical rules of evidence or procedure not required.

69. Issue of subpoena ; penalty for failure to obey.

70. Recalcitrant witnesses punishable as for contempt.

71. Fees and mileage of witnesses.

72. Depositions.

73. Transcript of stenographer's minutes ; effect as evidence.

74. Jurisdiction of commission to be continuing.

75. Report of commission.

76. Commission to furnish blank forms.

§ 60. State workmen's compensation commission. — A state workmen's com-
pensation commission is hereby created, consisting of five commissioners, to
be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the
senate, one of whom shall be designated by the governor as chairman. The
commissioner of labor shall also be an ex officio member of the commission
but shall not have a vote on orders, decisions or awards. Appointments may
be made during the recess of the senate, but shall be subject to confirmation
by the senate at the next ensuing session of the legislature. The term of
office of appointive members of the commission shall be five years, except that
the first members thereof shall be appointed for such terms that the term of
one member shall expire on January first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, and
on January first of every succeeding year. Successors shall be appointed in
like manner for a full term of five years. Vacancies shall be filled in like
manner by appointment for the unexpired term. Each appointive member of
the commission shall before entering upon the duties of his office execute an
official undertaking in the sum of fifty thousand dollars to be approved by the
comptroller and filed in his office. The governor may remove any appointive
commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct in office, giving
him a copy of the charges and an opportunity of being publicly heard in
person or by counsel, upon not less than ten days' notice. If such a commis-
sioner be removed, the governor shall file in the office of the secretary of state
a complete statement of all charges made against him and a complete record
of his proceedings and his findings thereon. Each appointive commissioner
shall devote his entire time to the duties of his office, and shall not hold any
position of trust or profit, or engage in any occupation or business interfering
or inconsistent with his duties as such commissioner, or serve on or under
finy committee of a political party. The commission shall have an official
seal which shall be judicially noticed.

§ 61. Secretary, deputies and other employees. — The commission may ap-
point one or more deputy commissioners and a secretary to hold office during
its pleasure. It maj' also employ, during its pleasure, an actuary, account-
ants, medical doctors, clerks, stenographers, inspectors and other employees

254* Keport of the Commissioxer of Labor, 1913.

as may ht' lucdfcl to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Tlic authority,
duties and compensation of all suhordinates and employees, except as pro-
vided by this chapter, shall be fixed by the commission.

§ 62. Salaries and expenses. — The chairman of the commission shall receive
an annual salary of ten thousand dollars, and each otlur conimissionor, an
annual salary of seven thousand dollars. The secretary shall receive an
annual salary of five thousand dollars. The commissioners and their sub-
ordinates shall be entitled to their actual and nceossary expenses while travel-
in<r on the business of the commission. The commission mav also make the
necessary expenditure to obtain statistical and other information to establish
classifications of employments with respect to hazards and risks. The salaries
and compensation of the subordinates and all other expenses of the commis-
sion, including the premiums to be paid by the state treasurer for the bond
to be furnished by him, shall be paid out of the state treasury upon vouchers
signed bv at least two commissioners.

§ 63. Office. — The commission shall keep and maintain its principal office
in the city of Albany, in rooms in the capitol assigned by the trustees of
public buildings. The office shall be supplied with necessary office furniture,
supplies, books, maps, stationery, telephone connections and other necessary
appliances, at the expense of the state, payable in the same manner as other
expenses of the commission.

§ 64. Sessions of commission. — The commission shall be in continuous
session and open for the transaction of business during all business hours of
every day excepting Sundays and legal holidays. All sessions shall be open
to the public and may be adjourned, upon entry thereof in its records, with-
out further notice. Whenever convenience of parties will be promoted or delay
and expense prevented, the commission may hold sessions in cities other than
the city of Albany. A party may appear before such commission and be
heard in person or by attorney. Every vote and official act of the commission
shall be entered of record, and the records shall contain a record of each case
considered, and the award, decision or order made with respect thereto, and all
voting shall be by the calling of each commissioner's name by the secretary
and each vote shall be recorded as cast. A majority of the commission shall
constitute a quorum. A vacancy shall not impair the right of the remaining
commissioners to exercise all the powers of the full commission so long as a
majority remains.

§ 65. Powers of individual commissioners and deputy commissioners. — Any
investigation, inquiry or hearing which the commission is authorized to hold
or undertake may be held or taken by or before any commissioner or deputy
commissioner, and the award, decision or order of a commissioner or deputy
commissioner, when approved and confirmed, by the commission and ordered
filed in its office, shall be deemed to be the award, decision or order of the
commission. Each commissioner and deputy shall, for the purposes of this
cliapter, have power to administer oatiis, certify to official acts, take deposi-
tions, issue subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production
of books, accounts, papers, records, documents and testimony. The commission
may authorize any deputy to conduct any such investigation, inquiry or hear-
ing, in which case he shall have the power of a commissioner in respect
thereof.

Woekmen's Compensation Law. * 255

§ 66. Powers and duties of secretary. — The secretary of the commission
shall:

1. Maintain a full and true record of all proceedings of the commission, of
all documents or papers ordered filed by the commission, of decisions or
orders made by a commissioner or deputy commissioner, and of all decisions
or orders made by the commission or approved and confirmed by it and ordered
filed, and he shall be responsible to the commission for the safe custody and
preservation of all such documents at its office;

2. Have povi'er to administer oaths in all parts of the state, so far as the
exercise of such power is properly incident to the performance of his duty or
that of the commission;

3. Designate, from time to time, with the approval of the commiscion, one
of the clerks appointed by the commission to exercise the powers and duties
of the secretary during his absence ;

4. Under the direction of the commission, have general charge of its office,
superintend its clerical business, and perform such other duties as the com-
mission may prescril)e.

§ 67. Rules. — The commission shall adopt reasonable rules, not inconsistent
with this chapter, regulating and providing for

1. The kind and character of notices, and the service thereof, in case of
accident and injury to employees;

2. The nature and extent of the proofs and evidence, and the method of
taking and furnishing the same, to establish the right to compensation ;

3. The forms of application for those claiming to be entitled to com-
pensation ;

4. The method of making investigations, physical examinations and in-
spections;

5. The time within which adjudications and awards shall be made;

6. The conduct of hearings, investigations and inquiries;

7. The giving of undertakings by all subordinates who are empowered to
receive and disburse moneys, to be approved by the attorney-general as to
form and by the comptroller as to sufficiency.

8. Carrying into effect the provisions of this chapter;

9. The collection, maintenance and disbursement of the state insurance
fund.

§ 68. Technical rules of evidence or procedure not required. — The commis-
sion or a commissioner or deputy commissioner in making an investiga-
tion or inquiry or conducting a hearing shall not be bound by common law
or statutory rules of evidence or by technical or formal rules of procedure,
except as provided by this chapter; but may make such investigation or
inquiry or conduct such hearing in such manner as to ascertain the substan-
tial rights of the parties.

§ 69. Issue of subpoena; penalty for failure to obey. — A subpoena shall be
signed and issued by a commissioner, a deputy commissioner or by the secre-
tary of the commission and may be served by any person of full age in the
same manner as a subpoena issued out of a court of record. If a person fail,
without reasonable cause, to attend in obedience to a siibpoena. or to be
sworn or examined or answer a question or produce a book or paper, or to
subscribe and swear to his deposition after it has been, correctly reduced to
writing, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

256 * Eepoet of the Commissioa'ek of Labok, 1913.

§ 70. Recalcitrant witnesses punishable as for contempt. — If a person in
attendance before the coiumisbion or a commissioner or tleputy commissioner
refuses, witliout reasonable cause, to be examined, or to answer a legal and
pertinent question or to produce a book or paper, when ordered so to do by
the commission or a commissioner or deputy commissioner, the commission
may apply to a justice of the supreme court upon proof by affidavit of tlie
facts for an order returnable in not less than two nor more tlian five days
directing such person to show cause before the justice who made the order,
or any other justice of tlie supreme court, why lie should not be committed
to jail. Upon the return of such order the justice shall examine under oath
such person and give him an opportunity to be heard; and if the justice
determine that he has refused without reasonable cause or legal excuse to
be examined or to answer a legal and pertinent question, or to produce a
book or paper which he was ordered to bring, he may fortliwith, by warrant,
commit the offender to jail, there to remain until he submits to do the act
which he was so required to do or is discharged according to law.

§ 71. Fees and mileage of witnesses. — Each witness who appears in obedi-
ence to a subpoena before the commission or a commissioner or deputy com-
missioner, or person employed by the commission to obtain the required
information, shall receive for his attendance the fees and mileage provided for
witnesses in civil cases in the supreme court, which shall be audited and
paid from the state treasury in the same manner as other expenses of the
commission. A witness subpoenaed at the instance of a party other than the
commission, a commissioner, deputy commissioner or person acting under
the authority of the commission shall be entitled to fees or compensation from
the state treasury, if the commission certify that his testimony was material
to the matter investigated, but not otherwise.

§ 72. Depositions. — The commission may cause depositions of witnesses
residing within or without the state to be taken in the manner prescribed
by law for like depositions in civil actions in the supreme court.

§ 73. Transcript of stenographer's minutes; effect as evidence. — A tran-
scribed copy of the testimony, evidence and procedure or of a specific part
thereof, or of the testimony of a particular witness or of a specific part
thereof, on any investigation, by a stenographer appointed by the commission,
being certified by such stenographer to be a true and correct transcript
thereof and to have been carefully compared by him with his original notes,
may be received in evidence by the commission with the same effect as if
such stenographer were present and testified to the facts so certified, and a
copy of such transcript shall be furnished on demand to any party upon
payment of the fee provided for a transcript of similar minutes in the
supreme court.

§ 74. Jurisdiction of commission to be continuing. — The power and juris*
diction of the commission over each case shall be continuing, and it may,
from time to time, make such modification or change with respect to former
findings or orders relating thereto, as in its opinion may be just.

§ 75. Report of commission. — Annually on or before the first day of Febru-
ary, the commission shall make a report to the legislature, which sliall include
a statement of the number of awards made by it and the causes of the acci-
dents leading to the injuries for which the awards were made, a detailed
statement of the expenses of the commission, the condition of the state

WoKKMEx's Compensation Law. * 257

insurance fund, together with any other matter which the commission deems
proper to report to the legislature, including any recommendations it may
desire to make.

§ 76. Commission to furnish blank forms. — The commission shall prepare
and cause to be distributed so that the same may be readily available blank
forms of application for compensation, notice to employers, proofs of injury
or death, of medical or other attendance or treatment, of employment and
wage earnings, and for such other purposes as may be required. Insured
employers shall constantly keep on hand a sufficient supply of such blanks.

ARTICLE 5.

State Insurance Fund.

Section 90. Creation of state fund.

91. State treasurer custodian of fund.

92. Surplus and reserve.

93. Investment of surplus or reserve.

94. Administration expense.

95. Classification of rislvs and adjustment of premiums.

96. Associations for accident prevention.

97. Requirements in classifying employment and fixing and adjusting

premium rates.

98. Time of payment of premiums.

99. Action for collection in case of default.

100. Withdrawal from fund.

101. Audit of payrolls.

102. Falsification of payroll.

103. Wilful misrepresentation.

104. Inspections.

105. Disclosures prohibited.

§ 90. Creation of state fund. — There is hereby created a fund to be known
as " The State Insurance Fund," for the purpose of insuring employers against
liability under this chapter and of assuring to the persons entitled thereto the
compensation provided by this chapter. Such fund shall consist of all pre-
miums received and paid into the fund, of property and securities acquired
by and through the use of moneys belonging to the fund and of interest earned
upon moneys belonging to the fund and deposited or invested as herein pro-
vided. Such fund shall be administered by the commission without liability
on the part of the state beyond the amount of such fund. Such fund shall be
applicable to the payment of losses sustained on account of insurance and
to the payment of expenses in the manner provided in tliis chapter.

§ 91. State treasurer custodian of fund. — The state treasurer shall be the
custodian of the state insurance fund ; and all disbursements therefrom
shall be paid by him upon vouchers authorized by the commission and signed
by any two members thereof. The state treasurer shall give a separate and
additional bond in an amount to be fixed by the go\»ernor and with sureties
approved by the state comptroller conditioned for the faithful performance of
his duty as custodian of the state fund. The state treasurer may deposit
any portion of the state fund not needed for immediate use, in the manner
and subject to all the provisions of law respecting the deposit of other state
funds by him. Interest earned by such portion of tlie state insurance fund
deposited by the state treasuuer shall be collected by him and placed to the
credit of the fund.

258 * Report of the Commissioxer of Labor, 1913.

§ 92. Surplus and reserve. — Ten per centum of the premiums collected from
employers insured in tlie fund shall be set aside by tlie commission for the
creation of a surplus until such surplus shall amount to tlie sum of one
hundred thousand dollars, and tliereafter five per centum of such premiums,
until such time as in tlie judgment of the commission such surplus shall be
sufficiently large to cover tlie catastroplie iiazard. The commission sliall also
set up and maintain a reserve adequate to meet anticipated losses and carry
all claims and policies to maturity.

§ 93. Investment of surplus or reserve. — The commission may, pursuant to
a resolution of the commission approved by the comptroller, invest any of
the surplus or reserve funds belonging to the state insurance fund in the
same securities and investments authorized for investment bv savings banks.
All such securities or evidences of indebtedness shall be placed in the hands
of the state treasurer who shall be the custodian thereof. He shall collect
the principal and interest thereof, when due, and pay the same into the state
insurance fund. The state treasurer shall pay all vouchers drawn on the
state insurance fund for the making of such investments when signed by
two members of the commission, upon delivery of such securities or evidences
of indebtedness to him, when there is attached to such vouchers a certified
copy of the resolution of the commission authorizing the investment. The
commission may, upon like resolution approved by the comptroller, sell any
of such securities.

§ 94. Administration expense. — The entire expense of administering the
state insurance fund sliall be paid in the first instance by the state, out of
moneys appropriated therefor. In the month of January, nineteen hundred
and eighteen, and annually thereafter in such month, the commission shall
ascertain the just amount incurred by the commission during the preceding
calendar year, in the administration of the state insurance fund exclusive
of the expense for the examination, determination and payment of claims,
and shall refund such amount to the state treasury. If there be employees
of the commission other than the commissioners themselves and the secretary
whose time is devoted partly to the general work of the commission and partly
to the work of the state insurance fund, and in case there is other expense
which is incurred jointly on behalf of the general work of the commission
and the state insurance fund, an equitable apportionment of the expense shall
be made for such purpose and the part thereof which is applicable to the
state insurance fund shall be chargeable thereto. As soon as practicable
after December thirty-one, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and annually
thereafter, the commission shall calculate the total administrative expense
incurred during the preceding calendar year in connection with the examina-
tion, determination and payment of claims and the percentage which this
expense bore to the total compensation payments made during that year.
Tlie percentage so calculated and determined shall be assessed against the
insurance carriers including the state fund as an addition to the payments
required from them in the settlement of claims during the year immediately
following, and the amounts so secured shall be transferred to the state
treasury to reimburse it for this portion of the expense of administering this
chapter.

Wokkme:^'s Compensation Law. * 259

§ 95. Classification of risks and adjustment of premiums. — Employments
coming under tiie provisions of this chapter shall be divided for the purposes
of the state fund, into the groups set forth in section two of this chapter.
Separate accounts shall be kept of tlie amounts collected and expended in
respect to each such group for convenience in determining equitable rates;
but for the purpose of paying compensation the state fund shall be deemed
one and indivisible. The commission shall have power to rearrange any of
the groups set forth in section two by withdrawing any employment embraced
in it and transferring it wholly or in part to any other group, and from such
employments to set up new groups at its discretion. The commission shall
determine the hazards of the different classes composing each group and fix
the rates of premiums therefor based upon the total payroll and number of
employees in each of such classes of employment at the lowest possible rate
consistent with the maintenance of a solvent state insurance fund and the
creation of a reasonable surplus and reserve; and for such purpose may adopt
a system of schedule rating in such a manner as to take account of the
peculiar hazard of each individual risk.

§ 96. Associations for accident prevention. — The employers in any of the
groups described in section two or established by the commission may with
the approval of the commission form themselves into an association for
accident prevention, and may make rules for that purpose. If the commission
is of the opinion that an association so formed sufDciently represents the
employers in such group, it may approve such rules, and when so approved
and approved by the industrial board of the labor department they shall be
binding on all employers in such group. If such an approved association
appoint an inspector or expert for the purpose of accident prevention, the
commission may at its discretion provide in whole or in part for the payment
of the remuneration and expenses of such inspector or expert, such payment
to be charged in the accounting to such group. Every such approved associa-
tion may make recommendations to the commission concerning the fixing of
premiums for classes of hazards, and for individual risks within such group.

§ 97, Requirements in classifying employment and fixing and adjusting pre-
mium rates. — 'The following requirements shall be observed in classifying
employments and fixing and adjusting premium rates:

1. The commission shall keep an accurate account of the money paid in
premiums by each of the several classes of employments or industries, and the
disbursements on account of injuries and deaths of employees thereof, includ-
ing the setting up of reserves adequate to meet anticipated losses and to carry
the claims to maturity, and also, on account of the money received from each
individual employer and the amount disbursed from the state insurance fund
on account of injuries and death of the employees of such employer, including
the reserves so set up;

2. On January first, nineteen hundred and fifteen, and every fifth year there-
after, and at sixch other times as the commission, in its discretion, may
determine, a readjustment of the rate shall be made for each of the several
groups of employment or industries and of each hazard class therein, which,
in the judgment of the commission, shall have developed an average loss
ratio, in accordance with the experience of the commission in the administra-
tion of the law as shown by the accounts kept as provided herein;

260 * Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1913.

3. If any such accounting show an aggregate balance (deemed by the com-
mission to be safely and properly *devisible) remaining to the credit of any
class of employment or industry, after the amount required shall have been
credited to the surplus and reserve funds and after the payment of all awarda
for injury or death lawfully chargeable against tlie same, the comm-ission
may in its discretion credit to each individual member of such group, who
shall have been a subscriber to the state insurance fund for a period of six
months or more prior to the time of such readjustment, and whose premium
or premiums exceed the amount of the disbursements from the fund on account
of injuries or death of his employees during such period, on the instalment
or instalments of premiums next due from him such proportion of such
balance as the amount of his prior paid premiums sustains to the whole
amount of such premiums paid by the group to which he belongs since the
last readjustment of rates;

4. If the amount of premiums collected from any employer at the beginning
of any period of six months is ascertained and calculated by using the
estimated expenditure of wages for the period of time covered by such
premium payment as a basis, an adjustment of the amount of such premium
shall be made at the end of such six months, and the actual amount of such
premium shall be determined in accordance with the amount of the actual
expenditure of wages for such period; and, if such wage expenditure for such
period is less than the amount on which such estimated premium was collected,
such employer shall be entitled to receive a refund from the state insurance
fund of the difference between the amount so paid by him and the amount so
found to be actually due, or to have the amount of such difference credited
on succeeding premium payments, at his option; and if such actual premium,
when so ascertained, exceeds in amount a premium so paid by such employer
at the beginning of such six months, such employer shall immediately upon
being advised of the true amount of such premium due, fortliwith pay to the
treasurer of the state an amoimt equal to the difference between the amount
actually found to be due and the amount paid by him at the beginning of
such six months' period.

§ 98, Time of payment of premiums. — Except as otherwise provided in this
chapter, all premiums shall be paid by every employer into the state insurance
fund on or before July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and semi-annually
thereafter, or at such other time or times as may be prescribed by the com-
mission. The commission shall mail a receipt for the same to the employer
and place the same to the credit of the state insurance fund in the custody
of the state treasurer.

§ 99. Action for collection in case of default. — If an employer shall default
in any payment required to be made by him to the state insurance fund, the
amount due from him shall be collected by civil action against him in the
name of the people of the state of New York, and it shall be the duty of the
com-mission on the first Monday of each month after July first, nineteen
hundred and fourteen, to certify to the attorney-general of the state the
names and residences, or places of businei?s, of all employers known to the
commission to be in default for such payment or payments for a longer
period than five days and the amount due from such employer, and it shall
then be the duty of the attorney-general forthwith to bring or cause to be
brought against each such employer a civil action in the proper court for the

♦ So in the original.

Workmen's Compensation Law. * 261

collection of such amount so due, and the same when collected, shall be paid
into the state insurance fund, and such employer's compliance with the pro-
visions of this chapter requiring payments to be made to the state insurance
fund shall date from the time of the payment of said money so collected as
aforesaid to the state treasurer for credit to the state insurance fund.

§ 100. Withdrawal from fund. — Any employer may, upon complying with
subdivision two or three of section fifty of this chapter, withdraw from the
fiind by turning in his insurance contract for cancellation, provided he is not
in arrears for premiums due the fund and has given to the commission written
notice of his intention to withdraw within thirty days before the expiration
of the period for which he has elected to insure in the fund; provided that in
case any employer so withdraws, his liability to assessments shall", notwith-
standing such withdrawal, continue for one year after the date of such with-
drawal as against all liabilities for such compensation accruing prior to
such withdrawal.

§ 101. Audit of payrolls. — Every employer who is insured in the state
insurance fvmd shall keep a true and accurate record of the number of his
employees and the wages paid by him, and shall furnish to the commission,
upon demand, a sworn statement of the same. Such record shall be open to
inspection at any time and as often as the commission shall require to verify
the number of employees and the amount of the payroll.

§ 102. Falsification of payroll. — An employer who shall wilfully misrepre-
sent the amount of the payroll upon which the premiums chargeable by the
state insurance fund is to be based shall be liable to the state in ten times
the amount of the difference between the premiums paid and the amount the
employer should have paid had his payroll been correctly computed; and the
liability to the state under this section shall be enforced in a civil action
in the name of the state insurance fund, and any amount so collected shall
become a part of such fund.

§ 103. Wilful misrepresentation. — Any person who wilfully misrepresents
any fact in order to obtain insurance in the state insurance fund at less than
the proper rate for such insurance, or in order to obtain payment out of
such fund, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 104. Inspections. — The commission shall have the right to inspect the
plants and establishments of employers insured in the state insurance fund;
and the inspectors designated by the commission shall have free access to
such premises during regular working hours.

§ 105. Disclosures prohibited. — Information acquired by the commission or
its officers or employees from employers or employees pursuant to this
chapter shall not be opened to public inspection, and any officer or employee
of the commission who, without authority of the commission or pursuant to
its rules or as otherwise required by law shall disclose the same shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.

ARTICLE 6.

Mlscellaneons Provisions.

Section 110. Penalties applicable to expense of commission.

111. Record and report of injuries by emploj-ers.

112. Information to bo furnished by employer.

113. Inspection of records of en>iiloyers.

262 * Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1913.

Section 114. Interstate commerce.

11,"). I'onaltic's for false representations.

110. Limitation of tinu'.

117. I'uties of commissioner of labor.

lis. Unconstitutional provisions.

119. Actions or causes of action pending.

§ 110. Penalties applicable to expenses of commission. — All penalties im-
posed In^ this cliapter shall bo applicable to the expenses of the commission.
Wlien collected by the commission such penalties shall be paid into the state
treasury and be thereafter appropriated by the legislature for the purposes
prescribed by this section.

§ 111. Record and report of injuries by employers. — Every employer shall
keep a record of all injuries, fatal or otherwise, received by his employees
in the course of their employment. Within ten days after the occurrence of
an accident resulting in personal injury a report thereof shall be made in
writing by the emijloyer to tlie commission upon blanks to be procured from
the commission for that purpose. Such report shall state the name and
nature of the business of the employer, the location of his establishment or
place of work, the name, address and occupation of the injured employee, the
time, nature and cause of the injury and such other information as may be
required by the commission. An employer who refuses or neglects to make a
report as required by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punish-
able by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

§ 112. Information to be furnished by employer. — Every employer shall
furnish the commission, upon request, any information required by it to
carry out the provisions of this chapter. The commission, a commissioner,
deputy commissioner, or any person deputized by tlie commission for that
purpose, may examine under oath any employer, oflTicer, agent or employee.
An employer or an employee receiving from the commission a blank with
directions to file the same shall cause the same to be properly filled out so
as to answer fully and correctly all questions therein, or if vmable to do so,
shall give good and sufficient reasons for such failure. Answers to such
questions shall be verified under oath and returned to the commission within
the period fixed by the commission therefor.

§ 113. Inspection of records of employers. — All books, records and payrolls
of the employers showing or reflecting in any way upon the amount of wage
expenditures of such employers shall always be open for inspection by the
commission or any of its authorized auditors, accountants or inspectors for
the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the wage expenditure and
number of men employed and such other information as may be necessary
for the uses and purposes of the commission in the administration of this
chapter.

§ 114. Interstate commerce. — The provisions of this chapter shall apply to
employers and employees engaged in intrastate, and also in interstate or
foreign commerce, for whom a rule of liability or method of compensation
iias been or may be established by the congress of the United States, only to
the extent that their mutual connection with intrastate work may and shall
be clearly separable and distinguishable from interstate or foreign commerce,
except that such employer and his employees working only in this state
may, subject to the approval and in the manner provided by the commission

• • • ' 1 • •

WoKKMEN's COMPEXSAVION 'Law. ' ' ' **2G3

and so far as not forbidden by any act of congress, accept and become bound
by the provisions of this chapter in like manner and with the same effect
in all respects as provided herein for other employers and their employees.

§ 115. Penalties for false representation. — If for the purpose of obtaining
any benefit or payment under the provisions of this chapter, either for liim-
self or any other person, any person wilfully makes a false statement or
representation, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ IIG. Limitation of time. — No limitation of time provided in this chapter
shall run as against any person who is mentally incompetent or a minor
dependent so long as he has no committee, guardian or next friend.

§ 117. Duties of commissioner of labor. — The commissioner of labor shall
render to the commission any proper aid and assistance by the department of
labor as in his judgment does not interfere with the proper conduct of such
department.

§ lis. Unconstitutional provisions. — If any section or provision of this
chapter be decided by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, the same
shall not affect the validity of the chapter as a whole or any part thereof
other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.

§ 119. Actions or causes of action pending. — This act shall not affect any
action pending or cause of action existing or which accrued prior to July
first, nineteen hundred and fourteen.

ARTICLE 7.

Laws Repealed; AVIien to Take E^ffect.

Section 130. Laws repealed.

131. When to take effect.

§ 130. Laws repealed. — Article fourteen-a and sections two hundred and
fifteen to. two hundred and nineteen-g, both inclusive, of chapter thirty-six
of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, as amended by chapter six hundred
and seventy-four of the laws of nineteen hundred and ten, are hereby repealed.

§ 131. When to take effect. — This chapter shall take effect January first,
nineteen hundred and fourteen, provided that the application of this chapter
as between employers and employees and the payment of compensation for
injuries to employees or their dependents, in case of death, shall take effect
July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, but payments into the state
insurance fimd may be made prior to July first, nineteen hundred and
fourteen.

Approved December 16, 1913.

u.c.

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